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Eternal

02-25-2013, 08:15 PM

I have grown to love the design of the Eternal water heater and have been installing them almost exclusively. All customers have been very very happy with their new heaters. Finally installed one in my house recently (it sat gathering dust awaiting a slow day). All I can say is 'wow'; the performance is awesome. Furthermore, I installed a Metlund pump in my kid's bathroom to speed up the delivery time and everybody is happy. I highly recommend the Eternal heater. I have sold 3 of them in the last week, awaiting a decision on a 4th.

Comment

My salesman has not had any reported issues in the few years that his supply house has been selling them. I have never had a heat exchanger problem with any brand that I've installed, going back 10 yrs at least.

Comment

I havent had any problems yet with the ones i have installed either. others have reported problems with the heat exchanger welds reacting poorly to chloramines. especially in areas where the concentrations are higher - high bacteria and algae areas. some of my (former company's) eternals have not lived up to the gpm ratings, mostly the smaller ones, there is no flow restrictor.

never ever believe a salesman. do your own research.

all tankless units have problems. eternals have heat exchanger problems, some have flow problems. rinnais had some exchanger problems, you should read the thread here on the navien systems. you are naive is you think you will have no problems. your customers may not have contacted you, but i pretty much guarantee you that in 10 years there has been problems.

lots of the problems are from uneducated installers or misapplication of the product. however, i've seen installs where the salesman/company rep has installed it and the thing puked 2 weeks later. just because it *might* work in europe doesnt mean it works here. i'd bet a lot, too, that they have the same problems over there that we do here.

~~

... it was plumbed by Ray Charles and his helper Stevie Wonder

Comment

was at my supply house today and actually had a conversation about this heater today with the knowledgeable counter guy. he warned me of issues with the eternal heater. funny it came up today with this thread.

rick.

phoebe it is

Comment

I havent had any problems yet with the ones i have installed either. others have reported problems with the heat exchanger welds reacting poorly to chloramines. especially in areas where the concentrations are higher - high bacteria and algae areas. some of my (former company's) eternals have not lived up to the gpm ratings, mostly the smaller ones, there is no flow restrictor.

never ever believe a salesman. do your own research.

all tankless units have problems. eternals have heat exchanger problems, some have flow problems. rinnais had some exchanger problems, you should read the thread here on the navien systems. you are naive is you think you will have no problems. your customers may not have contacted you, but i pretty much guarantee you that in 10 years there has been problems.

lots of the problems are from uneducated installers or misapplication of the product. however, i've seen installs where the salesman/company rep has installed it and the thing puked 2 weeks later. just because it *might* work in europe doesnt mean it works here. i'd bet a lot, too, that they have the same problems over there that we do here.

Lots of issues here. First, I'm not naive. Plumbing since '85, commercial, industrial and residential new work (hospitals, prisons, schools, hi rise offices and hotels, shopping centers, condos, apartments, houses, federal, state, private) and service (commercial and residential). Incorporated my 3 van company in '97.
Tank water heaters have problems too. I've replaced 3 of our still under warranty installs in the last 12 months (2 leakers and one new rheem). With that mentality is the safest approach no hot water at all?
Never ever believe a salesman? Ever? The salesman that I buy Eternal from I have called on for almost 20 yrs. His family and mine have socialized together, vactioned together for years. We golf together, attend sporting events. I think I can risk believing him.
As for 'guaranteeing' that some of my tankless installs have had problems, well I think I've said enough.

Comment

Rick, my oldest Eternal install is about 2 yrs old. So far no issues and customers happy enough to bother to let me know. I considered the brand a long time before I tried one. I asked every plumber I know and any I saw buying one about their experiences. Only a commercial applications have seen issues in my inquiries.

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Flux, i had a customer recently who really really wanted a tankless but opted out due to 3 children whom she suspected would take even longer showers. Didn't want to waste water. It was funny.

David

I have customers who are similar to that.

Except some of mine want to save the planet until they hear the costs associated with tankless and that it encourages more water use. Plus the fact the most of these manufactures "recommend" water softeners, that is the straw that broke the camels back with some of my customers. They don't want to contribute to salt being dumped into our waterways.

I think the concept of tankless is plausible, and there is some things I even like. But the concept of using coils to heat water has been around for a very long time, and it's no different than domestic hot coils on boilers. Dad use to tell me about when he was a kid, he would go downstairs and light a "coil" for hot water, and it was pretty much endless.

I don't know, I just want no parts of anything tankless. I have no idea how to install one or trouble shoot one, and have no desire to either.

Just my .02

Comment

My salesman has not had any reported issues in the few years that his supply house has been selling them. I have never had a heat exchanger problem with any brand that I've installed, going back 10 yrs at least.

Yes , always believe Your salesman ! They are in the trenches and have Your Butt covered !

I can build anything You want , if you draw a picture of it , on the back of a big enough check .

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I was at an educational seminar today done by the AO Smith rep for their rebranded Takagi tankless units. It was a live demo - inside the building, with full water pressure (60 psi), and an LP tank (yes, the venting was all inside the building.....but I digress), and an extension cord. He was going on and on about how they are so much better than all the rest...building upon other's mistakes (bigger mistakes? haha)... pointing out these wonderful seals and clips. Then he pulled one off...without turning off the water. I almost p1ssed myself laughing. The entire front counter, registers, monitors, computers, printers...all soaked while he couldn't put his head together to turn the water stop off. The rep beat a hasty retreat shortly thereafter.

~~

... it was plumbed by Ray Charles and his helper Stevie Wonder

Comment

All tankless have major problems. I worked on an eternal today. Here is my situation. I have 3 in a row that are supposed to talk to each other with a data cable. This is in a salon. They have been in for less than 2 years. Got a call Saturday "no hot water" they started using a stove to heat the water for clients. Had customer reset units 3 or 4 times. Nothing. Finally after many resets, the unit shifts Priorities from the one that had the problem. NO error code. The unit having the problem didn't throw a code, so the other two didn't come on. There is no simple way to have the customer switch units when it does this without going inside the unit and flipping dip switches. So, I talked to Eternal, and they say "Why did you set it up this way?, you should have put in a buffer tank, etc." I put it in the way they told me too. I have been through the courses, and am a FASST provider, etc. I have over 30 Eternals installed, 6 Takagi, 4 Navien, and have worked on Norritz, Rinnai, Bosch, and others. I have been back on ALL brands for something. Every time! the manufacturer blames the installers or suppliers, or local codes, or the water, or the power supply, or the gas supply, or the proper moon alignment. IT IS BS. The GAS saving calculations are inaccurate, and the warranties are a SCAM. Mark my word. Within the next 2 years, you will wake up one morning with no hot water, or it will be a Friday at 4:30 day before a Holiday, when your customers call you complaining about all the money they spent with you to have no hot water. As for Takagi and A.O. Smith. The can Kiss My Tanked Butt. Watch my video at Plumbing by Jay, INC. and see me work on a unit. Eternal started out with a 20 year warranty, and now it is a 15 year. These things were supposed to last 2.5 times the life of a tanked water heater, but I have lost over $50,000 while going back on warranty calls to fix Eternal CRAP. I stand behind my work, and am standing by a product that I thought was great. My prayer, is that every customer that I put a tankless in for; MOVES. Meanwhile, I have thousands of tanked water heaters, that are still cooking away. Sure, they will only last 8-12 years, but at least they have hot water. By the way, Let us know how consistent the temperature stays after it has been in for a 6 months.